Management

Requirements for effective inventory management?

- a system to keep track of inventory on hand and on order - reliable forecast of demand that includes an indication of possible forecast error - knowledge of lead times and lead time variability - reasonable estimates of inventory holding costs, ordering cost, and shortage costs - classification system for inventory items.

Briefly discuss some specific considerations relevant to developing capacity alternatives

- design flexibility into systems - take a "big picture approach" to capacity changes - prepare to deal with capacity "chunks" - attempt to smooth out capacity requirements - identify the optimal level

How would you define entrepreneurship?

- have creative ideas - use management skills and resources to meet identified needs in the market place - dissatisfaction with the way things are - awareness of a need to do things differently

Determinants of effective capacity

- human consideration - facilities - processes -products or services - operations - external forces

Briefly describe how prices are determined

- in a free market, prices aren't determined by sellers alone - they're determined by buyer and seller negotiating in the market place - lower price, higher the quantity demanded - economic concept of supply and demand

What are the primary reasons for holding inventory?

- meet anticipated demand - smooth production requirements - decoupe components of the production-distribution system - protect against stock-outs - hedge against price increases, or to take advantage of quantity discounts - to permit operations Objective is to achieve satisfactory levels of customer service while keeping inventory costs within reasonable bounds

Characteristics of excellent companies

- oriented toward action - learned of needs of customers - promoted managerial autonomy and entrepreneurship - achieved productivity by paying close attention to needs of people - driven by company philosophy, based on values of leaders - focused on the business they knew best - had simple organization structure with a lean staff - centralized as well as decentralized

Briefly describe the factors that are taken into account in deciding whether to make or buy

- price - quality - services -location - inventory policy of supplier - flexibility

Explain Concept of Standardization

- refers to the extent to which there is absences of variety in a product, service, or process. Made in large qualities of identical items.

10 determinants of TQM

1. Find out what the customer wants 2. Design a product or service that will meet or exceed what customer wants 3. design a production process that facilitates doing the job right the first time 4. keep track of results, and use those to guide improvement in the system 5. extend these concepts to suppliers and to distribution 6. continual improvement 7. competitive benchmarking 8. employee empowerment 9. team approach

Outline features common to all forecasts

1. The same underlying casual system that existed in the past will continue to exist in the future 2. forecasts are rarely perfect actual results differ from predicted values 3. forecasts for groups of item tend to be more accurate than forecasts for individual items 4. forecast accuracy decreases as the time period covered by the forecast the time horizon increases

Outline the steps in the forecasting process

1. determine the purpose of the forecast and when it will be provided 2. establish a time horizon that the forecast must cover, accuracy decreases as time horizon increases 3. select a forecasting technique 4. gather and analyze the appropriate data, then prepare forecast. 5. monitor forecast to see if performing in satisfactory manner. if not, reexamine method, assumptions, data and so on

Outline the steps in the decision-making process

1. identify the problem 2. specify objectives and the decision criteria for choosing a solution 3. develop alternatives 4. analyze and compare alternatives 5. select the best alternative 6. implement the chosen alternatives 7. monitor the results to ensure that desired results are achieved

How would you define management? What are the managerial functions?

Accomplishment of an organization's goals by defining goals, organization fo work, motivation of others, staffing of the positions, the control of the labor material and evaluation of completed effort. Working with and through other people to accomplish the objectives of both the organization and its members

Benefits and limitations of MRP

Benefits: - low levels of in-process inventories - the ability to keep track of material requirements - the ability to evaluate capacity requirements generated by a given master schedule - a means of allocating production times Limitations - need computer, up to date information, software programs to handle computations and maintain records, integrity of file data

Briefly discuss the term ethical standards

Ethics reflects people's proper relations with one another: How should they treat each other? What responsibility should they feel for others? It is the study of standards of conduct and moral judgement. Ethics is more than an individual concern Organizational ethics begins at the top Personal ethics begins at home

Pros and cons of JIT

Pro - smoother production flow - fewer disruptions caused by problems due to quality, shorter setup times, multi-skilled workers who an help each other and substitue for other incase of absenteeism - reduced level of in-process inventories - reduced space requirements Cons - management may not be totally committed 0 workers or management may not display cooperative spirit - suppliers may resist

Essential components of the marketing system

Product: Place: Price: Promotion:

Continuous improvement process

a philosophy that seeks to make never-ending improvements to the process of converting inputs into outputs 1. select a process for improvement, and set goals for improvement 2. study and document the current process 3. seek ways to improve the system 4. implement the improved system 5. implement the improved system 6. evaluate it 7. document the improved solution, communicate it to all concerned, and establish appropriate training in the new system.

Marketing Audit

a systematic, critical, and unbiased review and appraisal of the basic objectives and policies of the marketing function- and of the organization, methods, procedures, and people employed to implement the policies. Requires a detailed look at the company's current marketing plans to see if they are still the best plans the firm can offer.

Finance Mangement

comprises activities related to securing resources at favorable prices and allocating those resources throughout the organization.

Production/operations management

consists of all activities that are directly related to producing goods or providing services. Core of most business organizations

Marketing Management,

consists of selling and/or promoting the goods or services of an organization. advertising, pricing, customer wants and needs, communication

Marketing Research -

equires much more than just technical tools. It requires cooperation between researchers and marketing managers. Marketing Managers much be able to explain what their problems are - and what kinds of information they need.

Briefly describe each of the costs associated with inventory

periodic cost - physical count of items in inventory made at periodic intervals perpetual inventory system - system that keeps track of removals from inventory continuously, monitor current levels of each item holding (carrying costs) - relate to physically holding items in storage. include interest, insurance, taxes, depreciation, opportunity costs ect. ordering costs- cost associated with ordering and receiving inventory.

Three layout types

product- most conductive to repetitive processing, standardized processing for smooth, rapid, high-volume flow process- used for intermittent processing, designed to facilitate processing items or providing services with processing requirements, departments or functional grouping fixed position - times being worked on remains stationary, workers, material, and equipment are moved about as ned. almost always because of weight, size, bulk of product

Briefly discuss the term capacity

refers to an upper limit or ceiling on the load that an operating unit can handle. the operating unit might be a plant, a department, a machine, a store, or a worker. the load can be specified in terms of either inputs or outputs.